


the things I never do

by SoloChaos



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Bad BDSM Etiquette, Charles is Beej's Dad, Established Beetlelands, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I know right, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Misunderstandings, Multi, No Smut, Parent-Child Relationship, Relationship Discussions, Subspace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:24:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22930168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoloChaos/pseuds/SoloChaos
Summary: Set in a universe where Adam, Barbara, and Beetlejuice have an established relationship with a BDSM element (Barbara as a domme, Adam as a switch, and Beetlejuice as a sub).Charles misunderstands something, and his misunderstanding brings a few more misunderstandings to light.
Relationships: Beetlejuice & Charles Deetz, Beetlejuice & Delia Deetz, Beetlejuice/Adam Maitland/Barbara Maitland
Comments: 27
Kudos: 189
Collections: Beets





	the things I never do

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: There are some references towards abuse; none of the abuse discussed was committed by a main character. There are also some discussions of poor etiquette in a BDSM relationship. As far as depiction of this poor etiquette goes, a character is depicted being somewhere between subspace and subdrop while unsupervised.
> 
> Everyone loves each other very much and this fic ends happily.

It’s late when Beetlejuice finally leaves the roof and climbs back inside— One am? Two? He’s always been terrible with time. But it seems late enough that everyone else should be in bed. And even if someone’s still up, he can probably get away without them noticing that he can’t speak right now. Or that he’s still shaking a little.

The house is silent as he makes his way downstairs, but the kitchen isn’t empty like he’d hoped. Charles is at the table, reading a book. He has trouble sleeping sometimes, and he’ll get a snack and sit in the kitchen for a while. Sometimes Beetlejuice will join him and they’ll shoot the shit. Fortunately, Charles seems pretty wrapped up in his book tonight, only giving Beetlejuice a nod when he comes into the room.

Part of Beetlejuice still expects to be yelled at when he takes food out from the refrigerator or pantry. He’s not going to starve to death; he’s already dead, as his mother had always reminded him. He’s still adjusting to being a part of the Maitland-Deetz household, where they invite him to meals and even let him have seconds or thirds if he wants. Delia asks him for his food preferences when making grocery lists, and Lydia always shares her snacks with him. Beetlejuice still remembers the first time he casually mentioned he was hungry and Charles made him a sandwich in response. It took some convincing on Charles’s part to assure him that it wasn’t a prank of some kind.

Right now, Beetlejuice is craving something with sugar. He’s pretty sure that there are juice boxes in one of the lower refrigerator drawers. He’s digging through the contents of the bottom drawer, searching for an apple juice when someone, standing right behind him, says:

“What the hell is this?”

Beetlejuice yelps in surprise when someone lifts the back of his t-shirt. He quickly spins around, but it’s too late— Charles has already seen the bruises on his back. 

“BJ, those are _new,”_ Charles says with a frown. “Who— is someone here doing this to you?”

Beetlejuice wants to deny it, but the block between his brain and his mouth is refusing to budge, so he just stares back at Charles, silently willing him to drop it.

“Who?” Charles says. His eyes narrow. “Was… Did Adam do this?” 

Beetlejuice isn’t sure what he’s say if he was even able to speak, because it _had_ been Adam who swung the belt as Barbara cradled his face and told him how well he was doing. 

His silence is apparently enough of an answer for Charles, who takes a couple deep breaths before turning around and leaving the kitchen. 

Confused, Beetlejuice goes back to searching for his juice box. He’s just closed the refrigerator door when he hears shouting coming from upstairs. Before he can think better of it, he follows the noise up to the second floor just in time to see the Deetzes standing in the hallway as the Maitlands make their way down from the attic.

 _“You!”_ Charles growls, stalking forward and grabbing Adam by the collar. Adam, caught off guard and still half-asleep, doesn’t offer any resistance.

“Charles!” Delia says in surprise.

“Dad, what are you doing?” Lydia says.

“Lydia, go back to bed,” Charles says, not taking his eyes off Adam.

“Uh, no way in hell,” Lydia says. “What’s going on?” 

“Charles,” Barbara says, glancing between Charles and Adam with a bewildered expression, “why— why don’t you let Adam go, and we can sit down and talk about, um. Whatever’s bothering you?” 

“No, we’re going to talk about this right now,” Charles says lowly, lips pulled back into a grimace.

“Dad, what’s going on?”

“Charles, maybe you should try to calm down—” 

“How can I calm down when _he,_ ” Charles shakes the fist holding Adam’s collar for emphasis, “has been _beating BJ?”_

Adam and Barbara clearly don’t know how to react to that, because, well. Charles isn’t _wrong,_ although it’s not the kind of beating that Charles seems to be thinking of.

“We aren’t… I didn’t…” Adam starts to stammer.

“No? Then explain to me where the _fucking belt marks_ on his back came from!” Charles roars. He points to Beetlejuice with his free hand, and Beetlejuice shrinks back when everyone turns to look at him. He hadn’t been aware that Charles even saw him join them.

“Belt marks?” Delia says, looking back at the Maitlands with a stunned expression.

“Charles, I, uh. I can explain,” Adam begins.

“There’s _no fucking excuse_ for hurting your partner!” 

“I think there’s been a misunderstanding—” Barbara tries.

“Are you saying that your husband _accidentally_ beat him with a belt?”

“What the fuck is going on?”

“Go back to your room, Lydia.”

“No way! Dad, you really saw—” 

“Charles, you don’t understand—” 

“Listen to me—”

“How long have you been—” 

“Seriously, you—”

Too much. It’s too fucking much, and Beetlejuice claps his hands over his ears and squeezes his eyes shut and tries to focus on his breathing instead of the fight that started because of _him…_

“ENOUGH!” 

Beetlejuice cracks an eye open to see Delia glaring at the rest of the family with her hands on her hips. He follows her gaze and sees that Charles is now holding Adam’s shirt with both hands, while Barbara has somehow squeezed between them and is trying to shove them apart. Lydia is hovering at the side, one hand on Charles’s arm and the other on Adam’s shoulder.

“Lydia and Charles, go back to your rooms. Adam and Barbara, go back up to the attic,” Delia snaps. “All of you, _stay there_ until morning. BJ—” Beetlejuice jumps when she turns to him, and her face and tone both soften. “BJ, go downstairs to the living room. I’ll be right there, okay?”

Beetlejuice nods, and everyone starts to disperse. He heads down to the living room and curls up on one of the couches, unsure of what to expect from Delia. He drops his juice box in his lap and rubs his eyes. He’s confused when his fingers come back wet, and then he’s mortified when he realizes that he’s crying. Jesus. Was he doing that upstairs too? 

He’s trying to punch the straw through the hole in the juice box when Delia comes into the room, but his hands are shaking too much. Delia sits down next to him and gently takes the straw and box from him, putting the straw in the box and handing it back without a word.

Delia wraps a blanket around him as he sips his apple juice, and they sit together in silence for a while as Beetlejuice slowly begins to relax.

“BJ,” Delia says after a long moment, “can you hear me?” At Beetlejuice’s nod, she says, “Can you speak?” 

Beetlejuice considers this for a moment and shakes his head. 

“That’s okay, honey. Can you hold up three fingers with your right hand for me?” 

Beetlejuice complies. 

“Good job,” she tells him gently, and Beetlejuice relaxes even more at that. “Can you hold up two fingers with your left hand for me?” 

He does. 

“Good job,” she tells him again, and he feels a little warmer.

Delia doesn’t say anything else until Beetlejuice is down to the dregs of his juice, and she takes the box from him once it’s empty and places it on the coffee table.

“BJ, I want to ask you a few questions. All you have to do is nod or shake your head to answer them. Is that okay?” Delia asks him, and he nods. “Okay. BJ, Charles said that you have some belt marks on your back. Did any of them break the skin?” 

Beetlejuice shakes his head. Adam and Barbara had been careful about that. Beetlejuice had told them that he didn’t mind if they drew blood, but both of them said _they_ did. 

“Was your skin broken anywhere else on your body?” 

Again, Beetlejuice shakes his head. 

“Okay. Thank you, BJ. You’re doing really well,” Delia tells him, and Beetlejuice can’t help but preen a little at that. “Now, when you got those marks on your back, was the person who gave them to you angry at you?” 

Beetlejuice shakes his head again. Adam and Barbara had been explicit when they told him that they never play when seriously angry, and that they never use impact play as punishment. 

“Okay, I still have a few more questions, but we can take a little break first,” Delia says, pulling out a chocolate bar. “I have some chocolate. Do you want some?”

They split the chocolate bar and eat in silence for a bit. Delia helps him take a few sips of water from a water bottle once he’s done with his half.

“Is it okay if I ask you a few more questions now?” Delia asks once he’s done drinking, and he nods. He thinks he might be able to start talking again, but he doesn’t feel like trying. “When you got those marks on your back, did it feel good?” 

Beetlejuice starts to nod, but he pauses, because while the way Adam and Barbara praised him as he endured it had felt good, the belt itself did hurt. 

Catching his expression, Delia quickly says, “Okay, bad question. I’ll rephrase. Did you want to be in the situation where you got those marks?” 

At this, Beetlejuice nods. Barbara had him pick from a variety of impact toys, and Adam had helped him test the belt to make sure it would be good for him. And it was good. 

“Okay. Good job, BJ. Now, with this question, I want you to know that however you answer, know that I won’t be mad at _anyone._ Okay?” 

Hesitantly, Beetlejuice nods. 

“Okay. Was Adam involved in the situation where you got those marks?” 

Warily, Beetlejuice nods again. 

Delia’s expression doesn’t change. “Was Barbara involved too?” 

Again, Beetlejuice nods, and Delia’s expression still doesn’t change. 

“Okay. That’s okay, BJ. Now, before this situation happened, did you three talk about what was going to happen in the situation? Was it planned?” 

Beetlejuice nods. There had been a _lot_ of talking. 

“Okay. I just have one more question,” Delia says. She pauses for a moment and just looks at Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice looks back. “Do you want a hug?”

Beetlejuice launches himself into her arms with what is probably an embarrassing amount of enthusiasm. He’s always amazed by how good touch feels, and for some reason, it feels even better than usual right now. Delia is warm, and she’s holding him tightly, and she’s humming a little as she pets his hair. He can hardly be blamed for drifting off to sleep.

He’s alone when he wakes up, but someone— Delia, probably— wrapped him in a couple of blankets while he was asleep, so he’s nicely warm. The living room lights are off, but the room is lit up by the sun. And, he realizes, he can hear people talking in the kitchen.

“You’re seriously making me go to school today? After that?” Lydia.

“Lydia, if we let you stay home the day after every strange event, you’d never go to school.” Charles.

“But you and Delia aren’t going to work. Why do I still have to go to school?”

“Because there are some things that your father and I need to take care of here.” Delia. “I know you want to help, honey, but this is something that we need to do on our own. Okay?” 

“…fine.” 

Beetlejuice hears Lydia walking out of the kitchen and into the living room. Not wanting to blow his cover just yet, he pretends to be asleep as she leaves the house, slamming the front door hard enough to show that she’s upset, but softly enough to be at least sort of courteous to Beetlejuice who’s ostensibly asleep on the couch.

There’s a minute or two of silence before Delia speaks.

“I think we should talk before we invite the Maitlands down here.”

“Yes. We should talk about how we’re moving, immediately, and taking BJ with us.”

Delia sighs. “No, Charles. I’m talking about how you woke us all up at two in the morning and attacked Adam without giving him a chance to explain himself.”

“What explanation could there possibly be?”

“Charles, I talked to Beetlejuice last night, and I think— I think you may have misunderstood.” 

“Misunder— Delia. I’ve told you about my father. I know what a goddamn bruise from a belt looks like.” 

“I know, Charles. And you were right about that.”

“Then what are you—”

“Charles. I think the three of them have an element to their relationship where they engage in consensual BDSM activities.” There’s a pause, and then Delia says, “BDSM is—”

“I know what BDSM is, Delia. I just… the Maitlands? Seriously?”

Beetlejuice silently snickers despite himself. That had been his reaction, more or less, when he found out too. Not quite as vanilla as he’d thought. 

“Yes, Charles. Seriously.”

There’s a pause while Charles digests this. “He looked so scared last night. In the kitchen. And he wasn’t saying anything. Delia, he’s _never_ that quiet.” 

“Yes, and that’s something else I’ll need to talk to the Maitlands about. He seemed to still be in subspace, at least partially. If they let him out of their sight knowing he was still in, we’ll have to have a serious conversation.”

There’s another pause. “I know what BDSM is. That doesn’t mean I know all the jargon.”

Delia huffs a laugh. “Subspace is a kind of trance-like state that a sub can go into during the scene. It has to do with the hormones that the sub experiences in the scene. The downside is that it can be dangerous both during and after subspace, since they tend to become suggestible and aren’t able to register sensations like pain during, and can drop into a depressive state afterwards because of hormone depletion.” 

Charles sits with this for a moment. “So you’re saying—”

“I’m not saying anything,” Delia says quickly. “I doubt the Maitlands would have left him if they knew that he was still in. They might be inexperienced with this and not even know about subspace. I’m just saying that I’ll need to talk to them about this, especially if they plan on doing it again.”

There’s a moment of silence, and then Delia says, “Shall I go get the Maitlands?”

Beetlejuice is still feigning sleep when everyone reassembles in the kitchen.

“I’m just going to come out and say it,” Delia says. “Adam and Barbara, is there a BDSM element to your relationship with BJ?”

There’s a couple moments of sputtering from both Maitlands before Barbara says, “…yes.” 

“And now we know for sure,” Delia says. “Charles?”

“What?” Charles says. “Oh, uh. Adam. I’m sorry for, uh, yelling at you without letting you explain what was going on.”

“It’s okay, Charles. Your assumption wasn’t, hm. _Unreasonable,_ and. And I’m glad to know that BJ has someone like you to fend for him.”

Charles’s voice is gruff as he says, “Thanks. That, uh. That means a lot.” He clears his throat. “My father, he, uh. He wasn’t a good man. Wasn’t good to my mother. So when I saw those marks on his back, I just. I don’t know. I jumped to conclusions, I guess.”

“That was more sharing than I thought there would be! Thank you, Charles, I’m proud of you.” Those words probably would’ve sounded insincere coming from anyone other than Delia.

“Thank you, Charles. Really,” Barbara adds quietly.

Charles clears his throat again. “Well! Uh, Delia, you mentioned that you wanted to talk to the Maitlands about— uh, something else. I’ll leave you to it.” 

Beetlejuice hears him more or less book it out of the kitchen and into the living room, where Beetlejuice is still lying on the couch, belly down and face pressed into the cushions. It isn’t hard to pretend that he’s asleep when Charles enters the room to go upstairs. He’s taken aback, though, when he hears Charles come closer to the couch instead of heading for the staircase. It’s a fight to keep from fidgeting as he hears Charles come to a stop beside the couch, and he nearly jumps when he feels Charles pull the back of his t-shirt up. There’s a long moment as Charles presumably just stares at Beetlejuice’s back, and then he hears Charles sigh and feels him lower his shirt. Beetlejuice assumes that Charles will go upstairs after that, and he’s wrong again when he feels Charles gently rest his hand on Beetlejuice’s head.

Charles sort of strokes Beetlejuice’s hair for a few moments before leaving, and Beetlejuice isn’t sure what to feel. It definitely wasn’t bad. Maybe it was good? He’ll have to ask Lydia when she gets home if she knows what that was about.

In the confusion, he realizes he missed the beginning of Delia’s conversation with the Maitlands, and he quickly tries to catch up.

“—rather personal, Delia, and I don’t—”

“Barbara. I’m not asking because I’m curious. I’m asking because I want to know how angry I should be that you let him wander off alone while still in subspace.” 

There’s a long pause. Then Adam, hesitantly, says, “He was in…”

“Subspace. Or something that seemed a lot like it.” A beat, and then Delia says, “Do you know what subspace is?”

“Adam and I have been part of the scene since college, Delia. Of course we know what—”

“Barbara, honey,” Adam interrupts his wife gently. “Delia isn’t trying to be a smartass.”

“She’s saying I’m a bad domme, Adam, and I’m not going to—”

“I’m not saying that at all,” Delia says quickly. “I’m just saying— look. BJ could’ve really hurt himself. I just want to know how this situation… came about.”

There’s a long moment of silence, and then Beetlejuice hears Barbara say, very quietly, _“Fuck.”_

“Barbara?” Adam says.

“Fuck, Adam, I think we screwed up,” Barbara says, her voice thick. “I— _I_ screwed up.”

“Barbara—” 

“Remember that first night, when we ended the scene, how we barely got to check his bruises before he left? You wanted to go after him, but I— I told you no, give him space. And when we saw him the next morning, I didn’t— I didn’t check in with him. I just _assumed…”_ Barbara’s words go choked for a moment. “I just assumed he was okay. That because he’s a demon, his needs after a scene must be different. I— I don’t know _why…”_

“He’s confident,” Adam says quietly. “That would throw anyone off, Barbara.” 

“That’s no excuse,” Barbara says, her words muffled slightly. “Fuck. _Fuck._ Where is he; I need to see him—”

“He’s sleeping,” Delia says. “He’s had a long night, Barbara.”

“Let him sleep, hon,” Adam adds.

Barbara lets out a heavy sigh. “I just— I can’t believe it,” she says, sounding genuinely stunned. “It’s so… _obvious,_ in retrospect. He really wasn’t okay. There was so much bravado, but I thought— I thought I saw through it.” She huffs. “God. I was such an idiot.” 

Figuring that Barbara’s had enough of a pity party (and wanting to correct her on a few things), Beetlejuice decides it’s time to “wake up.” He lets out a yawn, loud enough for the others to hear in the room over, and starts to get up, which, _ow._ He’s a lot sorer than he thought he was. 

His surprisingly achey body combined with some trepidation about the situation awaiting him means that it takes a little longer to get to the kitchen than he thought it would.

“Hey, Babs. Sexy. Doreen,” Beetlejuice says as he slides into a chair at the kitchen table, only wincing a little when his bruised ass hits the seat of the chair. “Mornin’ to ya.” 

“Adam, could you—?” Barbara says, looking at her husband.

Beetlejuice has no idea what she’s asking of Adam, but Adam clearly does because he nods and gets up, heading into the living room for some reason.

“How are you feeling?” Barbara asks, turning to Beetlejuice, her eyes wide and earnest. 

“Uh, fine,” Beetlejuice says, a little thrown off by her intensity. “I’m good, Babs. Tip-top shape.”

“Are you sure?” Barbara says.

Adam comes back into the room then, carrying a throw pillow from one of the sofas in the living room. “Here you go,” he says, handing the pillow to Beetlejuice.

“Uh. Thanks?” Beetlejuice says, gaze flickering from Adam over to Delia, then Barbara. What’s he supposed to do with this?

Adam huffs a chuckle. “No, bug. Here, could you stand up for me?” Confused, Beetlejuice does, and Adam takes the pillow from him and places it on his seat. “There you go,” he says, gently patting Beetlejuice’s shoulder before going back to his chair.

It takes Beetlejuice a couple moments to realize that he’s supposed to sit down on the pillow. It seems obvious in retrospect, but he’s surprised by how much more comfortable it is to sit on the pillow instead of the hard wooden seat. He’s felt vaguely unsettled all morning, but something about this has thrown him even further off-balance and he can’t quite figure out why.

He’s startled out of his thoughts when someone puts their hand on his wrist, and he flinches a little in surprise. Barbara quickly pulls her hand back, looking guilty, and Beetlejuice doesn’t know how to tell her that he was just startled; she didn’t have to stop touching him. It’s not like the block he gets during scenes where he _can’t_ speak; he just doesn’t know how to articulate what he wants to say.

So he just sits there, tongue heavy and stupid in his mouth as he tries to figure out what the fuck he’s supposed to be doing.

“Well,” Delia says, clapping her hands together after a moment too long to just be called uncomfortable. “Shall we begin?”

“Begin what?” Beetlejuice says.

“BJ, honey, we need to talk about what happened last night,” Delia says.

Beetlejuice tries not to squirm and sort of succeeds. “What’s there to say? Chuck misunderstood some stuff, you guys cleared that up— probably,” he adds quickly, remembering that he was supposed to be asleep during their discussion. “So now he knows. We can move on. Whatever.” 

“I— no, BJ,” Barbara says quietly. “We need to talk about how you were in subspace last night, and we weren’t there to take care of you.”

Beetlejuice isn’t really sure how to react to that, especially since he doesn’t want to let on that he isn’t super clear on this “subspace” thing.

“Has this— has this happened before?” Barbara asks carefully. “I mean, have we let you go off on your own while in subspace?” 

“BJ, this is important,” Adam adds, his gaze so soft and gentle that Beetlejuice has to look away. “Beej?”

Beetlejuice stares at his hands, trying to think of something to say that’ll get this situation over with. He keeps drawing a blank.

His silence is apparently long enough for Barbara to interpret it as a confirmation.

“Oh,” she says quietly, her hands fluttering a bit. “Oh, BJ, I’m so sorry.” Beetlejuice notices, with some panic, that she’s starting to cry a little.

“No, it’s okay,” he quickly says. “Seriously, Babs. Barbara. It’s all good.” He tries to smile at her, and he thinks he sort of manages it. “I’m fine. See?”

“It’s not okay,” Adam says, gently but firmly. “BJ. We were supposed to take care of you, and we failed. What we did wasn’t okay. You could’ve been seriously hurt.” 

Barbara rests her hand on Adam’s shoulder, rubbing it gently. “I’m your domme, Beej. And I really messed up. I let us jump into this too fast. We— we never even talked about your needs after a scene. I didn’t— I didn’t even try to give you any kind of aftercare…” She trails off, looking horrified with herself.

Okay, there’s something Beetlejuice can jump in on. “You gave me aftercare,” he points out.

Both Maitlands blink at him. “No, we didn’t,” Adam says. “We didn’t, Beej, and I’m so—”

Beetlejuice waves that off. They’re sorry about… something, whatever, he gets it. “No, you did,” he says. “You gave me some of those body wipes, remember?” At their confused expressions, he clarifies, “You know, because Babs, you like to see Adam come on my—”

“Yes!” Barbara squeaks as Adam’s face goes bright red. “Yes, I— I remember. But, um, Beej, what does that have to do with this?” 

Why is Barbara having such a hard time understanding this? “That’s aftercare,” Beetlejuice says slowly. “See? You did give me aftercare.”

“No, that’s—” Adam pauses, frowning. “Well, I guess that’s technically aftercare. But come on, you know that’s not the kind of thing we’re talking about.” Beetlejuice knows nothing of the sort, and it must show on his face because Adam suddenly looks concerned. “Wait. BJ. You— do you know what aftercare is?”

Beetlejuice shrugs. “Yeah, it’s where you take care of someone after a scene. You guys wiped me down and helped me find my clothes. Aftercare.” Adam, Barbara, and Delia are all staring at him with varying levels of alarm. “What?” 

“BJ, you told us you’ve been in dom/sub relationships before, right?” Barbara says, a weird amount of urgency in her tone. 

Beetlejuice shrugs and nods; “relationships” might be stretching it, but he’s had plenty of kinky encounters with fuck buddies. Well. “Buddies” might be stretching it. “Yeah, B-Town. Like I told you; not my first rodeo.”

“Then how…” Barbara’s clearly trying to figure out how to phrase what she wants to say, and she ends up blurting, “Then how the hell do you not know what aftercare is?”

Beetlejuice bristles. “Look, I didn’t come here just to be called stupid.”

“No one— no one’s calling you stupid,” Adam says quickly. He glances over at Barbara, who appears to be having some kind of apoplexy. “I just— I think Barbara is, um, angry. Not at you! Uh. Delia?”

“Um, Adam, why don’t you and BJ go up to the attic?” Delia suggests, looking alarmed by these turn of events. “I’ll stay here with Barbara.” 

“Uh, right. Good idea,” Adam says, jumping out of his chair. “Come on, Beej. We can read another chapter of that unsettling book Lydia recommended.” 

“What’s wrong with Barbara?” Beetlejuice says, letting Adam usher him out of the kitchen and into the living room.

“She’s just upset about some things,” Adam says. “It’s not your fault, Beej. She just needs some time to cool down.”

Beetlejuice follows him up the stairs to the second floor. “What’s she upset about?”

“I think— I think Barbara should be the one to explain it,” Adam says as they reach the top of the stairs.

Beetlejuice considers this as they make their way to the staircase up to the attic. “Are _you_ upset?” 

Adam is silent for a moment. “Yes,” he says finally. He glances back at Beetlejuice. “But I think Barbara should explain it.” 

Beetlejuice shrugs. “Okay.” 

They reach the attic, and Beetlejuice makes a beeline for the grey couch. There are two couches in the attic, and the grey one is far superior. Adam grabs the book off of the table beside the couch and sits down next to him.

“Ready?” he asks, and Beetlejuice nods, resting his head on Adam’s shoulder. Adam opens the book and starts to read, tracking the words with his finger so Beetlejuice can follow along. “On Sunday morning the change was one day nearer. I was resolute about not thinking my three magic words and would not let them into my mind, but the air of change was so strong that there was no avoiding it; change lay over the stairs and the kitchen and the garden like fog…”

He must’ve fallen asleep again, because the next thing he’s aware of is Adam and Barbara speaking to each other quietly, Adam’s body at his side.

“Wassup?” Beetlejuice mumbles sleepily. He rubs his eyes but otherwise doesn’t move; his position is kind of awkward, but it’s worth the contact he has with Adam.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Barbara says, and when he looks over at her, she’s giving him the kind of smile that makes his chest hurt. But in a good way.

“Hi, bug,” Adam says. Beetlejuice can’t see his face from the position he’s in, but Adam’s voice is warm and kind.

“Hi,” Beetlejuice says. “What, um. What’s up?”

“Adam and I have a few things we want to talk about with you,” Barbara says. “Nothing bad!” she adds before Beetlejuice can start to spiral. “It’s just some things we probably should’ve talked about a long while ago.”

“Okay,” Beetlejuice says slowly, digesting this. “Does it have to do with why you were mad before?”

Barbara nods, pursing her lips.

“Are you still mad?”

Barbara starts to shake her head, but she stops. “I’m not— angry right _now,”_ she says, picking her words carefully, “but I’m still angry about some things.” 

“Stop being angry,” Beetlejuice says. He pauses. “No, that came out wrong. Uh, don’t be angry? If you don’t have to be.”

Barbara smiles faintly at that, reaching out and taking his hand. “I don’t know about _have_ to, but I can’t help it,” she says. “Someone didn’t take care of you like they should’ve, and I can’t help but be angry about that, because I love you. And I didn’t take care of you like I should’ve, and I can’t help but be even more angry about that, because I love you and I wasn’t there for you.” She squeezes his hand. “This thing is kind of what we need to talk about.” 

A little dizzy from the _two_ “I love you’s,” the only thing Beetlejuice can think to say it, “…right now?”

Barbara smiles at him again, wider this time, and leans forward to kiss his cheek. “Not right now, if you don’t want,” she says. 

“Okay,” Beetlejuice says again. He’s starting to fall asleep again. “Come sit next to me?” he asks through a yawn, gesturing to his side opposite of Adam.

Barbara laughs. “Of course,” she says, flopping down at Beetlejuice’s side and leaning against him. Distantly he hears Adam chuckle and feels him pull Beetlejuice into his lap. Barbara rearranges herself too, so that she’s almost on top of him. 

He thinks he hears Barbara say something, but he’s too close to sleep, lulled by the two warm bodies at either side of him.

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully I made this clear in the fic, but Charles and his mother were physically abused by his father, which is why his immediate thought upon seeing the belt marks on BJ’s back was that someone is abusing him. He was aware that Beetlejuice is involved with the Maitlands, so the obvious conclusion for him is that one or both of them are abusive.
> 
> Protective!Charles. Dad!Charles. I love him.
> 
> Also I want to mention that while Barbara and Adam did screw up a lot, the situation is pretty understandable. Beetlejuice came across as being highly knowledgable and completely aware of his wants and needs, and the Maitlands got kind of swept up in it. He spoke clearly and extensively about his boundaries during scenes, and they kind of assumed that if he would've mentioned his needs before/after scenes if he had any. They were still fully prepared to give him all kinds of aftercare the first time they did a scene together, but he immediately bounced after the scene before they could even offer. (I wanted to mention this in the fic but never got around to it: Beetlejuice had no idea what subspace/subdrop was and thought that subdrop meant there was something wrong with him, so he would leave as quickly as possible so the Maitlands wouldn't see. Poor beetle boy.)
> 
> All that said, do NOT do what Adam and Barbara (and Beetlejuice) did! Talk about boundaries with your sexual partner(s) (whether you're having kinky sex or not) and don't be afraid of asking stupid questions! Something might seem obvious to you, but it might not be for everyone else. Being on the same page as your partner(s) makes for great sex!
> 
> Also: the book Adam and BJ were reading was _We Have Always Lived in the Castle_ by Shirley Jackson. It's narrated by an unapologetically feral young woman and includes important messages such as Food is Better Than Capitalism and Men Are Useless.
> 
> Innumerable thanks to Em, without whom this fic would never have been published. Their cheerleading (and light bullying) got my ass into gear. Find them on tumblr @asriells or on AO3 at aphwhales, where they have some excellent Beetlejuice fics!!
> 
> Kudos and comments are loved and appreciated. Thank you for reading!


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